Presently available fishing vests are typically designed with at least one pocket sewn on or into the exterior of the front torsal portion of the vest which is worn over a person's chest. Fishing vests having a plurality such pockets are most widely used because they enable the fisherman to carry numerous fishing items while fishing in a boat, wading in water, or while fishing from shore, a pier, or the like. The pockets are normally made of woven fabric, usually of the same fabric as the remainder of the vest, and are permanently attached to the vest. Because of their permanent attachment, the quantity and variety of fishing items which can be carried by the user is rather limited and is defined by the fixed size and fixed number of such pockets. Hence, the pockets may become filled by relatively modest quantities of fishing gear and, when filled, access to certain items may become quite difficult. Furthermore, as the material which forms the pockets and vest is opaque, a fisherman normally cannot visually determine the contents of the pockets.
Fishing vests having fabric pockets also pose additional problems. Typically, more than one fishing lure must be placed in a single pocket because of the storage limitations of the pocket. Thus, if a plurality of lures with several hooks are placed together in the same pocket, the lures often become snagged in the material and difficult to dislodge. Also, they may become tangled together, and, once retrieved from the pocket, one or more of the lures may become lost during untangling, especially if the fisherman is wading in water. Furthermore, because very little light reaches the interior of a fabric pocket, even when the pocket is opened, the user risks being pricked each time he attempts to retrieve a lure from the pocket.
The space limitation due to a limited number and limited size of pockets can cause other problems if lures and rubber worms are stored together in fabric pockets. For example, the color from colored rubber worms and lures with colored rubber skirts will bleed together in the same pocket. This results in the loss of the lure's and the worm's effectiveness and usually requires that the lure and worm be discarded. Moreover, the paint from painted jig heads eventually rubs off and stains the material of the pocket and/or vest. To avoid these last-mentioned problems, the lures, worms and jigs often times are carried in separate containers, such as the compartments of a tackle box, for example, which ultimately defeats the advantages provided by a vest, i.e., convenience and ready access to the fishing gear.
As a result of the limitations imposed by the size and number of their permanently attached pockets, existing fishing vests are insufficiently versatile to meet most fishermen's needs for year-round usage since different times of the year, different types of fish, and different bodies of water require lures and other gear of widely varying sizes and types. Thus, a single vest having a few permanent pockets of fixed size cannot be effectively used for conveniently and safely carrying the wide assortment of gear that a fisherman may possibly require.
A need thus exists for a fishing vest capable of providing the user with significantly greater numbers of pockets and pockets having materially greater variations in size than those of presently known fishing vests.
A further need exists for a fishing vest which would provide the user with clear visibility of the pocket contents as well as easy access thereto.
A still further need exists for a fishing vest which would be sufficiently versatile to be of practical use at different times of the year, when fishing for different types of fish, and for fishing in widely varied bodies of water.